034 Andrea Pomaranski - Finding the Strength to Go on in the Wake of Loss & Tragedy

Episode Summary

Andrea Pomaranski has been through so much in her road to becoming an elite runner and has learned an incredible amount about herself throughout the process. So much good can lie ahead even when we’re in the middle of a dark period. When Andrea was in the middle of hers, she refused to believe that was the end of her story. Today, Andrea joins the show to share how she was able to step through the dark times and the importance of putting in the work every day, even when it’s hard.

Episode Sponsor

Runner Click Pro – https://pro.runnerclick.com/

Key Takeaways

01:00 – Whitney Heins welcomes Andrea Pomaranski to the show to share her running story and the importance of asking for help as a mother runner

19:36 – Filling your own cup

24:48 – Andrea’s Marathon progression

29:45 – Andrea’s mentality during marathon cycles

32:24 – Maintaining a healthy balance of competitiveness and the love of running

38:30 – Overcoming struggles with Osteoporosis

40:41 – Andrea opens up about a tragic and devastating moment in her life

45:19 – Lessons from a Masters Athlete

48:52 – What’s next for Andrea and how to connect with Andrea for coaching opportunities

51:34 – Advice Andrea would give to athletes who are struggling with internal pressure

54:12 – Whitney thanks Andrea for joining the show and lets listeners know where they can connect with her

Tweetable Quotes

“It’s really hard. I struggled for years. Every single time I went out the door for years I would almost be on the verge of tears, telling myself, ‘You shouldn’t do this. You’re not as good of a mom as you want to be.’ And that’s just not the case whatsoever. I fully believe it makes me better.” (16:14) (Andrea)

“There have been a couple of marathons where I’ve taken off like twenty seconds. What’s funny is that, in that marathon cycle, I feel like I made these huge jumps and then I’m always happy of a PR of maybe 20 seconds. But then, sometimes it takes a cycle to catch up. So the next time, I’ll make these big jumps but you don’t always see them.” (28:39) (Andrea)

“There’s such a delicate balance between when you work so hard at something, and you need a break to kind of let your mind and body reset, and then you’re ready to jump back in full force again. But then there’s also this other side where sometimes you just have to push through those hard moments knowing that you’re really close to turning a corner and doing something great.” (36:24) (Andrea)

“This is why I’m so passionate about people being in sports and putting your kids in sports. A lot of the lessons I learned about perseverance and never giving up and always trying. I don’t know if I could have gotten through that experience as gracefully as I did without having those values instilled in me at a very young age.” (41:41) (Andrea)